


Story of the Seasons

by Juzosuke-Ishimondo (Aster_Nightingale)



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Dangan Ronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc
Genre: Alternate Universe - Non-Despair (Dangan Ronpa), Chihiro is important, He's a bastard and not elaborated on, M/M, Mastermind Ishimaru Kiyotaka, Mondo proposes to Taka, Takemichi is only relevent in the last story but he's still relevent, Trans Male Character, it's implied at least, mentions of past boyfriend - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-23
Updated: 2020-03-04
Packaged: 2021-02-28 07:02:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22869817
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aster_Nightingale/pseuds/Juzosuke-Ishimondo
Summary: Four stories of Kiyotaka Ishimaru and the people in his life. More tags will be added, and some explanation will be added for certain chapters. May reorder chapters when I'm done if I can just to have a neater way of doing this. I haven't decided yet.
Relationships: Ishimaru Kiyotaka/Oowada Mondo
Comments: 6
Kudos: 99





	1. Autumn's End

Takaaki Ishimaru was used to feeling hopeless. He felt hopeless when his father was caught in a scandal. He felt hopeless when his beloved wife died so soon after giving birth to their son. He felt hopeless when his son spent hours washing the taste of his own blood and bugs from his mouth after being bullied. However, that all paled in comparison to the utter **despair** that clawed at his heart right now. His son, the boy he raised and loved more than anything else in the world was gone. In his place stood a monster. The light in the crimson eyes he inherited from his mother was gone. Instead, those eyes only showed a cold disdain. For who or what, Takaaki could only guess, though if he had to, he'd say for everything. For the classmates who hated him, for the grandfather who ruined him, for the parents who couldn't protect him, for the world for never even giving him a decent chance, Takaaki could wager that his son had enough of all of that.

He struggled futilely against the ties on his wrists. He was strapped to a chair. The blood and corpses of his son's classmates from Kaisaidan littering the floor around him. In front of him, his son sat in a desk chair. The white uniform was replaced with one that was half white and half black. Red bottons replaced the gold, and a military cap sat on his head. Kiyotaka smiled at him. For the first time, Takaaki could see why people hated his son's smile. He struggled to speak, to break the silence, but Kiyotaka beat him to it.

"Good evening, father. I'm sure you have many questions."

Yeah, he did, but Takaaki found all the answers in his son's voice. There was hardly any passion in it. No, he could only feel cold determination. His son, the light of his life, really was gone. "Whatever it is you're planning, just do it already."

Kiyotaka laughed. Takaaki almost cried. His son rarely laughed, and after not seeing him for 2 years, he hears it as his own son guides him to hell. Fitting, he supposed, for a son who couldn't help his father, for a husband who could save his wife, for a father that couldn't protect his child. He laughed, too, but he could feel the tears slip down his face.

Takaaki heard Kiyotaka cock a gun. He had lost his a week ago, at least he could die knowing where that was. "Goodbye, father." He felt his son's tears wet his face as a flash of pain blinded him. He watched his life, and he smiled softly. In the end, he was...grateful. How could he be sad, when his son was there in his final moments?

Kiyotaka hugged himself tightly as his laughter and tears mingled into a single despair filled symphony that filled the room. He did it. He did IT! He killed the person who meant the most to him. "I'm sorry, father!" He howled as he touched his father's clammy, pale face. "I'm sorry!" He held his father's corpse close as he rocked back and forth. This feeling was overwhelming, excruciating, beautiful, and terrible. He couldn't wait to share it with the entire world.


	2. Winter Breaks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trans!Ishimaru

He could still remember days he wasn't called Kiyotaka. No, there was a time he went by a different name. Tomiko Ishimaru was a wonderful name for a child. She always did her best in school. She happily did her chores and helped her mother prepare food whenever she could even if she could only make rice balls.

Tomiko was only 7 when things began to change. For better or worse, no one was entirely sure. She always hated dolls and wearing dresses, but she could tolerate wearing her school uniform if only barely. Besides, she wasn't allowed to wear shorts with her uniform. She envied the boys, and she wished she...she would talk to her parents.

Takaaki and Miyako Ishimaru were...surprised to say the least. Still, they were so happy their daughter...no, their son trusted them enough to talk about this, but while they were able to afford the syringes and testosterone with their measly health insurance, their limited income made getting a binder nearly impossible.

Kiyotaka Ishimaru wasn't a man to be taken lightly. He was strong, slightly above average in height, and he was not a man who wavered even slightly. Still, even he needed to breathe, but as he wrapped the sarashi around his chest, he struggled to take even the most shallow of breaths. He let out a shallow sigh as he stepped out of his dorm. As uncomfortable as the bandages were, time wouldn't slow down for him. Not for a second.

He wasn't sure how he ended up in a sauna om Christmas Eve with Mondo Oowada, but he found himself wearing only a towel around his waist and his undershirt as he participated in an endurance contest against the Ultimate Bosozoku. He wasn't surprised that he lost, in the end. What he was surprised by was how...kind Mondo was. Mondo had gently lifted him up and carried him into the changing room.

"Well, it seems this is...my loss, Oowada-kun."

Mondo scoffed. "Nah, this was stupid anyway. 's my loss."

Kiyotaka wanted to argue, but he suddenly became aware of how hard it was to breathe as a coughing fit overtook him.

Mondo was panicking, and as the other man left to get a water bottle, Kiyotaka took the chance he had to loosen the sarashi.

He grimaced at the sight of his chest. He wore it for far too long. His chest was faintly purple with brusies, and his ribs were tender to the point that taking a deep breath was incredibly painful. He was so engrossed with this that he didn't notice Mondo walking over until the other man tapped his forehead with the cold water bottle.

"Ah!" Kiyotaka instinctively hid his chest. He was used to other men punching or groping him when they found out his secret, and while he had developed a newfound respect for Mondo, he didn't fully trust him yet. "Sorry, I didn't see you come back, Oowada-kun."

Mondo shrugged. "S'alright, you're not the first trans guy I've ever met." Kiyotaka raised an eyebrow. "Few of my guys are trans." Then Mondo saw the sarashi. He picked up the bandages and glared at Kiyotaka. "Don't tell me you-"

Kiyotaka looked away giving Mondo the answer he hoped he wouldn't get.

"Fuck, Ishi, you have to know how bad this is for you!" Mondo ran a hand through the loose hair on the back of his head. "Look, I can ask a few of my guys if they have an extra binder or two. I'm sure they won't mind. Hell, a few of the bigger guys might-"

"Why are you being so nice to me?"

"Huh?"

Kiyotaka looked at Mondo. He could feel tears leaking out of his large, red eyes. There was a crease between his large brows, and he was confused. "Why are you being so nice to me?! I've been nothing but an annoyance to you since we met!"

Mondo gently patted his shoulder. "Why? We're friends now, right?"

"Friends?" Kiyotaka wasn't used to this.

Mondo nodded. "Yep, hell, after all that you told me, and after all I told you, I'd say we're more than friends. We're brothers now!"

"We're...brothers?" Kiyotaka was positive he was crying again.

"Y-yeah!" Mondo was yelling, and from what he told Kiyotaka, that meant he was nervous. "Yeah! We're brothers now! Please stop crying! I'm sorry for comin up with this stupid contest!"

Kiyotaka shook his head and smiled. "No, sorry, I'm just...I'm just so happy, kyoudai."

Mondo wrapped Kiyotaka in a warm embrace. For the first time in a very long time, Kiyotaka was...truly happy. The next day, Mondo managed to get Kiyotaka a brand new binder just his size. He took a deep breath and smiled boldly at his wonderful kyoudai. The only thing better than the air in his lungs was the pompadour haired man smiling back at him. Kiyotaka happily embraced the other man. Even on a cold Christmas day as long as Mondo was close, it felt just like summer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tomiko has many different meanings depending on the kanji. The most common meaning being wealthy child. One of the meanings is made up of the kanji for winter, kind/fruit, and child which is what I wanted to use for this. Double meaning: How Kiyotaka's family began to stuggle after the big scandal that we all know happenes but not any details about, and winter is the polar opposite of summer. And uh...yeah. I hope that is a good enough reason. Haha, sorry.


	3. Sunflowers on Summer's Eve

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edit: I didn't realize I had Kiyotaka's mother alive in the beginning and dead at the end for no reason.

Summer always seemed uneventful for Kiyotaka. Before, he didn't have any friends to speak of. He didn't have money either, so a trip was out of the question. His father was busy and his mother was in the hospital, so he didn't see a point in going to a festival. He mostly just stayed in his room studying for next year, cleaning, practicing kendo or calligraphy by himself because he couldn't afford classes anymore, or taking a long walk.

Now, he had his kyoudai who also didn't have any plans or reason to plan anything for summer but was more than happy to let Kiyotaka spend time with him and his gang while things were quiet, and he had Chihiro who, on the first day, invited both of them over to help with a small tradition the tiny boy had done since he was even smaller: planting sunflowers.

"You serious?" Kiyotaka wasn't surprised the Ultimate Bosozoku Leader asked that, but the soft tone of voice did. Mondo didn't seem offended at all. In fact, Mondo just sounded surprised.

Chihiro nodded and smiled brightly. "Yeah! My mom is working on a big project along with my dad, and we'll miss the best day to plant them. I'm a bit upset about that, but when they said to invite my friends and do the planting with them, it made me really happy!"

Mondo nodded and grinned. "Alright, sounds good. What d'ya say, kyoudai?"

Kiyotaka smiled which, as usual, made Chihiro flinch a bit, but Kiyotaka never took it personally. He knew what he looked like.

They made their way to the backyard. Mondo tossed him a hoe and the two dug up the ground where the flowers should grow, but before they could plow deep enough, they hit a small issue in the form of a metal box. The box was clearly old. Traces of green paint was overwhelmed with rust, and the clasp was weak enough that Chihiro broke it when he opened it.

Inside, there were three pictures and some items. One was a photo of a much younger Taichi and a man with the same messy hair but deep grey eyes standing in front of a small business office. The man had his arm around Taichi, and there was small script on the bottom that read 'So proud of you, Tai!' "Oh," Chihiro exclaimed. "That's my grandfather!"

Another photo showed Chihiro's mother as a small child and a man who resembled her pushing her on a swing.

The last photo was a picture of a newborn Chihiro sleeping in his mother's arms. Chihiro quickly grabbed that one and put in a pocket on his shorts.

The items didn't seem important. It was only small, empty chocolate boxes, sunflower seed shells, and some wires tied in a way to resemble a bracelet. Still, the boys were so absorbed in their find, they didn't notice Chihiro's parents until they heard Mrs. Fujisaki giggle.

"So, you boys found our time capsule?"

Mondo and Kiyotaka jumped and quickly apologized while Chihiro embraced his mother.

"I am terribly sorry for invading your privacy, Mrs. Fujisaki!"

"Yeah, sorry."

She just chuckled. "Oh, don't worry. It's long since time I dug up that old box." She picked up the box and held up that small candy box. "This was the first gift I ever gave Taichi. He was so shy, it was cute." She took out the wires. "After we started dating, Taichi tried to fix my old laptop. He was so embarrassed that he broke the laptop that he took out the wires and made a bracelet for me." She picked up the seed shells gently. "After I got pregnant, I started craving sunflower seeds. Why, I don't have a clue, but Taichi had the brilliant idea to grow sunflowers, so we could harvest the seeds and save some money. From then on, we decided to grow sunflowers every year." She kissed Chihiro's forhead. "Just for our own little ray of sunshine."

Chihiro beamed at his mother, and while the two started getting lost in her lane of memories, Kiyotaka tried to recall if he heard any stories like that before. He knew his parents met in highschool, but they never elaborated further.

Meanwhile, Mondo watched with slight envy at how lovingly Chihiro and his mother talked about Taichi. He couldn't remember his dad, but he did remember his mother and Daiya telling him that his father wasn't a good person who is better off forgotten. He learned later, much later, that they were correct, but his younger self didn't understand.

After the flowers were planted and the sunset, Mondo and Kiyotaka found themselves in Mondo's bedroom in a small apartment. It was Mondo who broke the silence.

"Are you alright? You seemed a bit..." He made a gesture that reminded Kiyotaka of seesaws that children played on. "Off since Mrs. Fujisaki started talking about what was in that box."

"It's fine Mondo. I was simply-"

"Don't lie ta me, kyoudai."

Ishimaru sighed. "It's just...she was so glad to tell such a private and beautiful story with us, and we only just met her. My parents never spoke about their relationship. They loved each other and me, but they lacked the emotional intimacy that Mr. and Mrs. Fujisaki have."

Mondo gave him an unreadable look.

"I know it was because of the stress they were under, but father refuses to talk about mother and how they met or why they got married. I just...I just want to know more about my parents."

Mondo embraced Kiyotaka as the latter started crying. Mondo knew how much his kyoudai loved his father and how much he cherished anything involving his sick mother. This wasn't something mere reassurance could help.

"Ya remember that competition we had a while ago?" The other boy nodded and sniffled. "Remember how I told ya my home life wasn't great?" Another nod. "Well, yeah. I grew up with Daiya and my mom. Dunno were dad was, and after my recent visit with him, I don't care. Mom was tough. She didn't take shit from no one. She always taught me and bro not to grow up to be like our old man. Told us to respect women, take care of each other, all of that shit. When she died from lung failure because she chained smoked because of stress from raising two boys alone, me and Daiya were supposed to go to a relative, but we ran away. Daiya was scared we'd end up with dad." Mondo shrugged, and he rubbed Kiyotaka's back. The other boy seemed lost in thought.

Finally, Kiyotaka broke the silence. "Kyoudai, thank you for sharing with me." Kiyotaka felt his face heat up. "Uh, let's work together and make our futures much better than our pasts!"

Mondo blinked at Kiyotaka's sudden shouting before embracing him. "Yeah, yeah. Let's build our lives together."

"Could...could we grow sunflowers together again?"

Mondo kissed his forehead. "Anything for you, Sunshine."


	4. Spring Cherry Blossoms of Rebirth

How long has he been like this? Kiyotaka hated looking at himself in the mirror for any amount of time, but there were moments like now when he had to. As he combed his cropped hair, he did his best not to scowl at his reflection. He looked remarkably like his father, albeit with his mother’s eyes, and that also meant he looked remarkably similar to his grandfather. As a child, Kiyotaka was so happy that he looked very similar to the other men in his family. He looked up to his grandfather. He dreamed of the day he would be just like him. Now, he may hold respect for what was left of Toranosuke Ishimaru, but he despised him in equal measure. Now, he dreamed of surpassing that man in every aspect.

Still, because Kiyotaka was homosexual, there would always be people who say that Toranosuke was the superior Ishimaru. Once that fact somehow came into the light, there were people who said…things. Things that made Kiyotaka almost glad his mother died when he was so young just to spare her from having to read or hear the things people said about her only child. Thankfully for him, his father was accepting of him.

Takaaki Ishimaru was a lot of things, but no one could or would ever accuse him of being anything except unconditionally accepting or loving towards his son. However, it was Kiyotaka’s taste in men that made Takaaki nervous. First there was Keiji Matsumoto who not only told the world that the youngest Ishimaru was a homosexual man to not only his entire middle school class, but also, when Kiyotaka was scouted by Hope’s Peak Academy, to all of Japan which was only topped by the fact that Keiji only asked Kiyotaka out after losing a bet and never even liked men. Now, there was Mondo Oowada. Takaaki had mixed feelings about him. On one had, Oowada was a gang leader involved with several misdemeanors and assault charges. On another hand, Takaaki had never seen Kiyotaka so happy before. He had never seen his son so…at peace before. As much as he loathed to admit it, Oowada brought out the best in Kiyotaka. He brought out the kind, happy, loving, and deeply compassionate person that Kiyotaka was before things went to hell for them. Even if the two would never get along, the two had an unspoken truce for Kiyotaka’s sake.

Still, it was a surprise when Kiyotaka planned for them all to attend Hanami for the first time in…God knew how many years it had been since Takaaki went to Hanami, and Mondo doesn’t remember ever going aside from last year when he, Taka, and Chi went, but he fell asleep pretty early into it, not that Taka noticed while being so enraptured with the pink petals raining down on them.

“It will be a great way for all three of us to bond!” Kiyotaka’s smile was brighter than the sun, and twice as likely to blind someone. To most people, it would have been terrifying: a militantly dressed boy yelling and smiling from ear to ear, but to Takaaki and Mondo, there were few sights more precious. There was no way they could refuse. Still, neither were happy about it.

Mondo didn’t want to be so close to Takaaki while trying to be romantic with Taka.

Takaaki just didn’t want to be around someone who he was more likely to see while he was working than his co workers.

It was just one day, how bad could it be. 

  
As it turned out, very. First, it started raining, and then, it turned into a thunderstorm. Kiyotaka was devastate about their plans for today being ruined, but he was fine with waiting for next week when the weather would be better and it wouldn’t be too damp. However, then they got a call from the hospital. As it turned out, Mondo was riding his bike to visit Taka and at least see him today, but as it turned out, a drunk man in a van decided 11 am was the perfect time to go home after a long night and slammed right into the biker gang leader who luckily bailed before the van got too close to avoid, but far enough way he could get away if he jumped. So, the biker had road rash, almost broke his leg, dislocated his arm, and broke an ankle along with losing his precious bike for at least 4 weeks for repairs. So, not only did Takaaki have to go out in the rain, he had to visit his son’s delinquent boyfriend, and he had been called in to write up the man who hit Mondo on his day off. The day seemed to be going from bad to worse. Especially when they arrived at the hospital and saw at least 40 motorcycles in the parking lot and saw a good amount of the Crazy Diamonds in the waiting room.

A serious looking young man with blond hair saw them first and motioned for them to come closer. “Is Mondo okay, Takemichi?”

Takaaki raised a brow. Have they met before? Before he could ask, Takemichi shrugged. “As okay as he can be. He’s a bit pissed about his bike, but he’s been through worse.”

Kiyotaka let out a sigh of relief. “That’s reassuring. Have they let anyone visit him yet?”

“Yeah, wanted to wait for you though. You should see him first. Just don’t do anything too mushy though. Nurses already gave me a look when Isamu and I hugged. Don’t want them saying shit about you and get involved in an…incident.” Takemichi glanced at Takaaki. “Especially with an officer here. Don’t want to make Mondo worry.”

Takaaki couldn’t say he wouldn’t resort to unsavory methods of motivation if someone even thought anything was wrong with his son for falling in love or for being in love, but he could respect the younger man’s restraint. It took a lot of strength to defend the one you love, and it took just as much if not more to hold yourself back from doing so. Still, if Takaaki were being honest, he couldn’t say he hadn’t been involved in scuffles after another man made a pass at his dearly departed Himawari after the scandal, not that Kiyotaka needed to or ever would find out about those.

  
The air was tense as they walked down the corridor to Mondo’s room, and when they arrived, Kiyotaka immediately ran up to Mondo and embraced the other boy.

Mondo visibly winced and awkwardly hugged his boyfriend and grimaced at the pain of moving his bad arm. “It’s nice to see you, too, babe, but could you let up a bit? This is kinda painful.”

Kiyotaka immediately let go. “I’m so sorry, my love!” Mondo smiled gently at him and grabbed his hand. He ran a thumb over Kiyotaka’s knuckles as the other boy said, “I was just so worried! You could have…I…” And Kiyotaka was crying. Honestly, no one was going to say it, but they were all surprised that Kiyotaka had been able to keep his composure for this long. This had to be a new record.

“’n know, babe. ‘ll do my best to keep a better look out.”

“At least you wore a helmet this time, boss.” Takemichi nodded towards a black helmet with the Crazy Diamond’s logo and kanji on the sides. The visor on it was cracked, and he finally noticed that Oowada’s hair was not in the ridiculous pompadour that it was usually in. Instead it was tied back out of his face. He looked more mature even if the front part of his hair was still bleached and way too long by Takaaki’s standards.

“You finally wore a helmet!” Kiyotaka was clearly overjoyed by that.

Mondo stilled his fingers as his face flushed and he turned away from Kiyotaka’s bright smile. “Y-yeah. Wanted to make a good impression today.”

Kiyotaka was now crying for a different reason. “Mondo, I am so proud of you!” He kissed his injured boyfriend’s brow and beamed at him. Mondo’s heart ached. This dork was way too cute.

“Yeah, was going to-” He was interrupted by one of the gang members calling for Takemichi and Kiyotaka. They were going to get bentos, and they were offering to buy Kiyotaka and his father some of their own.

At first, Kiyotaka refused, but Mondo told him to go as he wanted to discuss something with Takaaki. Kiyo looked confused, but he complied and left with Michi and Isamu.

  
Takaaki took in the sight in front of him. Mondo Oowada had his ankle wrapped, his arm was clearly still bothering him, and he had to be in a lot of pain, but he was still bowing in front of him.

“Please, may I have your blessing!” Mondo was yelling, and he blushed as he realized and repeated his question as he forced himself to speak in a more appropriate volume.

“Oowada, what exactly are you asking me?”

Mondo looked up, but he stared at the floor. He couldn’t bring himself to look Takaaki in the eyes just yet. “Taka and I’ve been dating since our first year at Hope’s Peak. We’ve spent…2 years together, and they’ve been the best years of my entire life. He makes me…he makes me so happy, and I hope I make him just as happy. I already started working as a carpenter’s apprentice, and I know I can do something with my life, but that life won’t mean nothing without Taka in it.” Mondo picked up his head and stared Takaaki in the eye. Passionate lavender eyes stared into hard steel eyes as Mondo Oowada asked once more “So, may I have your blessing so I can ask Kiyotaka to marry me?!”

Takaaki sighed, and he pulled Mondo into a hug. Mondo made a small noise of confusion as Takaaki sobbed. Finally, finally, there was someone other than his small family that loved Kiyotaka the way he deserved to be loved. Takaaki could still remember the respectable man Keiji was. Keiji was everything Mondo wasn’t: rich, highly intelligent, and utterly unworthy of Kiyotaka’s attention or love. Mondo wasn’t rich or book smart nor did he have a good reputation, but he truly loved Kiyotaka, and Takaaki couldn’t ask for anything more.

“Yes,” Takaaki pulled away and put a hand on Mondo’s good shoulder. “Yes, you have my blessing. But know this,” Takaaki squeezed the boy’s shoulder with a glare which made Mondo wince. Takaaki didn’t really believe Mondo would ever intentionally hurt Kiyotaka, but today had been stressful, and he could do with a small bit of fun. “If you ever even think about doing anything to hurt my son, I will find out, and you will not live long enough to regret it. No one, not even your ancestors will be able to find your body. You will vanish entirely. Are we clear?” Mondo nodded quickly clearly intimidated slightly. For once, Takaaki was kind of glad for his naturally intimidating face. He smiled and patted Mondo’s shoulder. He was good kid.

Kiyotaka walked into the room alone with three bento boxes in his arms. “Father, Kyoudai, Takemichi and the others are eating in the lobby, and the nurses said we could eat in here.” He noticed his father and Mondo standing and his father’s hand on Mondo’s shoulder. “Did something happen?“

Mondo cleared his throat. “Y-yeah, just talkin’. Um, actually, Kiyotaka, there was something I needed to talk to you about…”

Takaaki smiled as Mondo stumbled over his proposal and his son burst into happy tears. A rainbow came in from the window. Seems the rain finally stopped. 


End file.
